Israeli PM fires ultra-nationalist cabinet minister rivals

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired on Sunday his justice and education ministers, days after the parliament called for early elections.

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Xinhua that Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, two pro-settler former allies of Netanyahu, were dismissed.

The move was widely reported in Israeli media but no official statement was issued by the Prime Minister's Office and no explanations were made.

Bennett and Shaked issued a joint statement, saying they "thank the Israeli public for the rare privilege we have had to serve as education and justice ministers."

They added: "All we did was for the good of the State of Israel and its citizens."

Last Wednesday, the Israeli parliament, or the Knesset, voted to hold early elections, less than two months after the previous elections. The move was promoted by Netanyahu's Likud party after he failed to form a governing coalition.

Shaked and Bennett, two hawkish and popular politicians, formed a new party before April's elections but failed to pass the electoral threshold. However, they remained in their offices in the interim government.

They did not say whether they will run also in the upcoming September's elections.

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Tallinn Old Town Days celebrated in Estonian capital

The 38th celebration of the Tallinn Old Town Days concludes on Sunday the four-day event including concerts, exhibitions, theater plays, fairs, sports events and many family fun activities.

Signifying the beginning of summer in the city, the annual festival this year themed "Tallinn 800" to celebrate the first recorded mention of the city of Tallinn in 1219.

Squares, green parks, courtyards and streets of the Old Town at the city center became the stages of art performance including the program of international folklore festival Baltica, attracting around 1000 singers, dancers and musicians from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Nepal, India and Chile among others.

Since 1982, Tallinn Old Town Days are the biggest festival in Old Town dedicated to the local cultural heritage and community.

The Historic Center (Old Town) of Tallinn is an exceptionally complete and well-preserved medieval northern European trading city on the coast of the Baltic Sea.

Due to its exceptionally intact 13th century city plan, the Old Town was inscribed as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1997.